How the hell does a kid from Calgary turn his Masters Thesis into a TED Talk and venture backed startup that eventually gets bought by Google? Anand breaks down some of the street fighting tactics that he learned along the way, like how to get crazy amounts of press, what led to the acquisition and how he raised lots of free money. Don't knock the hustle.
37. The Art of Getting Press
Friday, July 15, 2011
38. The Art of Getting Press
• Have something to talk about. Don’t be derivative
Friday, July 15, 2011
39. The Art of Getting Press
• Have something to talk about. Don’t be derivative
• The Tweet test. Create something that you would pass onto your friends
Friday, July 15, 2011
40. The Art of Getting Press
• Have something to talk about. Don’t be derivative
• The Tweet test. Create something that you would pass onto your friends
• Package it up for them. Tell a Story.
Friday, July 15, 2011
41. The Art of Getting Press
• Have something to talk about. Don’t be derivative
• The Tweet test. Create something that you would pass onto your friends
• Package it up for them. Tell a Story.
• Talking points (raised a round recently? famous angels? backlink to
interesting trend/previous story)
Friday, July 15, 2011
42. The Art of Getting Press
• Have something to talk about. Don’t be derivative
• The Tweet test. Create something that you would pass onto your friends
• Package it up for them. Tell a Story.
• Talking points (raised a round recently? famous angels? backlink to
interesting trend/previous story)
• Tricks: invite giveaways, press loves exclusivity
Friday, July 15, 2011
43. What if my startup isn’t demo-candy?
Friday, July 15, 2011
44. What if my startup isn’t demo-candy?
Friday, July 15, 2011
48. We raised $140k+ of free government money
• Canada has awesome grant programs
Friday, July 15, 2011
49. We raised $140k+ of free government money
• Canada has awesome grant programs
• Before you spend
• $60k U of Toronto, Heffernan Fellowship
• $50k OCE Market Readiness
• $30k NRC IRAP Youth Employment Strategy grants ($15k each student)
Friday, July 15, 2011
50. We raised $140k+ of free government money
• Canada has awesome grant programs
• Before you spend
• $60k U of Toronto, Heffernan Fellowship
• $50k OCE Market Readiness
• $30k NRC IRAP Youth Employment Strategy grants ($15k each student)
• After you spend
• $100k’s SRED. Get back ~70% of your wage expenditures.
Friday, July 15, 2011
51. We raised $140k+ of free government money
• Canada has awesome grant programs
• Before you spend
• $60k U of Toronto, Heffernan Fellowship
• $50k OCE Market Readiness
• $30k NRC IRAP Youth Employment Strategy grants ($15k each student)
• After you spend
• $100k’s SRED. Get back ~70% of your wage expenditures.
• Caveat: can take lots of time.
Friday, July 15, 2011
52. The Art Of Getting To
Speak at TED
Friday, July 15, 2011
63. Getting Acquired
• Process took about 7 months
Friday, July 15, 2011
64. Getting Acquired
• Process took about 7 months
• Mostly mechanics, structuring, negotiation, lawyer hell
Friday, July 15, 2011
65. Getting Acquired
• Process took about 7 months
• Mostly mechanics, structuring, negotiation, lawyer hell
• Really demanding, stressful and un-creative
Friday, July 15, 2011
66. Getting Acquired
• Process took about 7 months
• Mostly mechanics, structuring, negotiation, lawyer hell
• Really demanding, stressful and un-creative
• Living in secrecy, don’t have cycles for product stuff really
Friday, July 15, 2011
67. Getting Acquired
• Process took about 7 months
• Mostly mechanics, structuring, negotiation, lawyer hell
• Really demanding, stressful and un-creative
• Living in secrecy, don’t have cycles for product stuff really
• Some key factors
Friday, July 15, 2011
68. Getting Acquired
• Process took about 7 months
• Mostly mechanics, structuring, negotiation, lawyer hell
• Really demanding, stressful and un-creative
• Living in secrecy, don’t have cycles for product stuff really
• Some key factors
• Thought leadership in a really hot space (tablets since 2004!)
Friday, July 15, 2011
69. Getting Acquired
• Process took about 7 months
• Mostly mechanics, structuring, negotiation, lawyer hell
• Really demanding, stressful and un-creative
• Living in secrecy, don’t have cycles for product stuff really
• Some key factors
• Thought leadership in a really hot space (tablets since 2004!)
• Unique, highly sought after skillset of team. UX + Engineering
Friday, July 15, 2011
70. Getting Acquired
• Process took about 7 months
• Mostly mechanics, structuring, negotiation, lawyer hell
• Really demanding, stressful and un-creative
• Living in secrecy, don’t have cycles for product stuff really
• Some key factors
• Thought leadership in a really hot space (tablets since 2004!)
• Unique, highly sought after skillset of team. UX + Engineering
• Press attention. Constantly in mindshare of decision makers
Friday, July 15, 2011